1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to communications links and more particularly to systems and methods for depicting, analyzing, and managing the quality of communications links.
2. Background
A communications link provides for communications between two or more end point nodes. Communications links may support various types of communications between the end point nodes. For example, a communications link may support audio, video, audio and video, digital data and/or other types of communications between the end point nodes. Some communications links may support multiple types of communications between the end point nodes simultaneously.
A communications link may be formed using communications equipment and by establishing connections between the communications equipment. A communications link includes communications equipment located at each of the end point nodes. A communications link also may employ communications equipment located at one or more intermediate nodes between the end point nodes. Thus, a communications link between the end point nodes may be formed by the communications equipment operating at the end point nodes and at various intermediate nodes as well as the connections that are established between all of the nodes.
Communications equipment located at the end point nodes and intermediate nodes of a communications link may take many forms. Communications equipment may operate in various different ways to create various different types of connections between communications equipment to establish and maintain the communications link. For example, communications equipment may include transmitters, receivers, repeaters, antennae, user interface devices, and other hardware or hardware and software operating together to create a node in the communications link. Connections between communications equipment at the nodes in a communications link may employ various different transmission media and modes of operation. For example, connections between communications equipment may be established at various different radio, microwave, optical, or other frequencies over the air, wire, fiber optic cable, or other transmission media.
The communications equipment and connections that are used to establish any particular communications link may depend on the locations of the end point nodes of the communications link. For example, one end point node of the communications link may be located on the ground with the other end point node of the communications link located on an aircraft in flight. In this case, the communications equipment used to establish the communications link may include aircraft communications equipment on the aircraft, ground communications equipment on the ground, and communications equipment forming an intermediate air-to-ground communications system. The aircraft communications equipment may include end user equipment. The ground communications equipment may include ground user equipment. The air-to-ground communications system may include, for example, intermediate communications equipment, such as satellite-based and other communications equipment.
The quality of communications between the end point nodes in a communications link depends on the level of performance at the end point nodes and any intermediate nodes. For example, the level of performance of the communications equipment at the nodes in the communications link and the level of performance of the connections between the nodes affects the end-to-end quality of communications. Other factors or conditions also may affect the end-to-end quality of a communications link. For example, operations performed by human operators at the various nodes along a communications link may affect communications quality. External factors, such as weather or other natural or man-made environmental conditions also may affect the quality of communications via a communications link.
The quality of communications provided by a communications link is not static. The quality of communications changes over time as the various factors affecting the communications link change over time. For example, over the course of time that a communications link is in use, the level of performance of the communications equipment and connections forming the link may change. Over this time period, human operators may perform operations that affect operation of the link. Over this time period, environmental conditions affecting operation of the communications link may change. Some of these various changing conditions may be the result of movement of one or more of the nodes forming the communications link. For example, the quality of communications via a link to an aircraft in flight may change as the distance between the aircraft and other nodes in the communications link changes, as the aircraft flies through various different weather or other environmental conditions, or as movement of other nodes in the communications link affects operation of the link.
With all of the different components and conditions that may affect the quality of communications via a communications link at any point in time, analyzing communications to determine which factors or combination of factors affect communications quality may be more difficult than desired. For example, different software or other tools may be used to monitor individual components of a communications link or individual conditions that may affect operation of a communications link. These tools, however, may not provide a desired level of communications link monitoring and analysis.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that takes into account one or more of the issues discussed above as well as possibly other issues.